Old age, the spent vessel
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
मागें बहुत जाले खेळ । आतां बळ वोसरलें ॥1॥
हालों नये चालों आतां । घट रिता पोकळ ॥ध्रु.॥
भाजल्याची दिसे घडी । पट ओढी न साहे ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे पाहतां घडी । जगा जोडी अंगारा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Many games have been played in the past, but now the strength has waned. I cannot walk or move anymore; this vessel is empty and hollow. It shows the crease of one who has been scorched; it cannot bear even a gentle tug. Says Tuka, when you look at this body, all it offers the world is ashes.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Many games have been played already. Now the strength has drained away. I cannot stir, I cannot walk anymore. The pot is empty and hollow. It shows the crack of a thing that has been fired. It cannot bear even a tug on the cloth. Tuka says: look at this body. All it has to give the world now is ashes.
What it means
Tukaram speaks as an old man taking stock of a worn-out body. The games of an active life are behind him, the strength is gone, and he can no longer move about. He pictures the body as an empty clay pot, fired and cracked, unable to take even the lightest strain. The closing line is unsparing: this body, looked at honestly, has nothing left to offer the world but ashes. It is a clear-eyed reckoning with the body's end, the kind of looking that turns a person toward what does not turn to ash.
Autobiography
Tukaram's own account of his life, struggles, awakening, and mission.
More in this theme →